Top Ten: Bass of the Week, the Best Bass Videos, Gear and Columns

Last week, No Treble readers really dug the Steely Dan instrumental version of “Peg”, with Chuck Rainey laying it down. Other top videos included A Taste of Honey’s “Boogie Oogie Oogie” and Richard Bona’s performance of “Bright Size Life” with Pat Metheny.

Gear, gear and more gear! Our top 10 includes some new basses, plus the bass of the week – an 11 string monster by the name of “Joust”.

Part 5 of our popular health series made the top 10, and Damian Erskine’s guide to creating a demo was tops as well.

And some sad news to report, with the passing of bassist Laurie McAllister.

Here are the top 10 features on No Treble, for the week of September 4 – 10, 2011.

This is cool beyond words… Chuck Rainey laying it down in this instrumental reunion remake of Steely Dan’s “Peg”, from Aja. Bonus: Bernard Purdie on drums. This is from the DVD, Steely Dan – Aja. Chuck tells the story here.

Laurie McAllister, who played bass in the final lineup of the iconic all-girl rock band the Runaways, has passed away at the age of 54. McAllister joined the Runaways in November 1978, replacing Victory Blue and becoming the 6th bassist in the band’s four year history. On her Facebook page, she listed her time in…

Like it or not, disco produced some great bass lines. Jeff Kerestes shared this music video of A Taste of Honey, featuring bassist/vocalist Janice-Marie Johnson, on our Facebook page. The song, “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” is a classic example of groovy bass from the ‘70s. “I just came across this video,” Jeff said. “Classic bass line!…

The world of extended-range basses has taken off over the last few years, and if you’ve ever searched for the term “bass” on YouTube, you’ve likely seen this week’s bass of the week: the Kenneth Lawrence “Joust” 11-string ChamberBrase I, built for Nuclear Rabbit and solo bassist Jean Baudin. A customization of Lawrence’s models, the…

A five-string version of Squier’s Vintage Modified Jazz Bass is now available. Similar to the four-string model, the Vintage Modified Jazz Bass V is styled after Fender’s mid-70’s Jazz basses and features a natural finish, soft maple body with a maple neck. The neck has black binding, block inlays, and 20 medium jumbo frets. Pickups…

Gretsch will launch revamped versions of their Electromatic range of instruments this month, including the Jet Junior and Jet Junior II basses. Updates to the series include improved pickups, inlays, and more. Both the Junior Jet and Junior Jet II basses feature bolt-on construction with a short 30.3″ scale, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and 20…

Meet Michael Modeste, a jazz-turned-metal bassist from Hartford, Connecticut. Michael is our player in the spotlight for September 6, 2011. Bio: I am the bass player in a metal band called Dead by Wednesday. I’m a finger style bass player with a jazz background that somehow fell into the world of heavy metal. I’ve studied…

Part 5 in No Treble’s series on Health & Fitness for the Working Bassist is focused on topics that don’t directly discuss having your hands on the bass. Nonetheless the topics about to be reviewed represent key factors when it comes to your longevity as a musician and the enjoyment you can gain from being…

Q: I’m challenged by my lack of demo material. I figured I would accumulate some good clips along the way and build up a portfolio. However, my networking skills have outpaced my gigging experience (I’m picky). I’ve recently been asked by some high B-list caliber artists for samples. Gulp… I don’t have any so the…

Here’s some incredible fretless playing by Richard Bona with the Pat Metheny Group in the mid-2000’s. Bona pays his respects to Jaco, who played on the original take, while adding his own flair and chops to the tune.